SEA Stocks: Mostly Up, Thai up to near 4-wk high, M'sia down with foreign outflow of US$100mil

BANGKOK: Thai shares recovered strongly on Thursday to a near four-week high on foreign buying as the
capital Bangkok returned to calm after weeks of political unrest, while other Southeast Asian markets mostly ended firmer though Singapore underperformed. 
    The Thai SET index outperformed the region with a
1.4 percent gain, ending at 1,308.34 points, its highest close
since Dec. 26, Thomson Reuters data showed. 
    The strong recovery was led by bank and energy shares. 
    Foreign investors bought a net $56.55 million worth of
shares on Thursday after the Thai market saw a $221.4 million
outflow in seven straight sessions through Wednesday.
    Thailand's Constitutional Court on Thursday deferred a
ruling on whether a general election scheduled for Feb. 2 can be
postponed, as protesters who say they will boycott the vote kept
up pressure on the government to step down.
    Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra declared a 60-day state
of emergency in Bangkok and surrounding areas from Wednesday,
hoping to prevent an escalation in the protests now in their
third month. 
    The Philippines index ended 0.5 percent firmer at its
highest close since Dec. 3, led by a 3.8 percent gain in BDO
Unibank Inc after the IMF raised the country's growth
forecast.
    Cautious investors are awaiting directions from the U.S.
Federal Reserve, which some market players expect to further
trim its bond buying next week even as Chinese manufacturing
data pointed to a mild slowdown in the new year.
    Vietnam's benchmark VN Index closed up 0.3 percent
and the Jakarta Composite index ended up 0.4 percent at
its highest level since Nov. 1.
    Bucking the trend, Singapore underperformed the
region with a 1.1 percent loss, while Malaysia fell 0.3
percent with a foreign outflow of $100.23 million, echoing
sluggishness in Asian markets as investors remained cautious
about Chinese manufacturing data.
        
SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS
 Change on day
 Market             Current     Prev Close    Pct Move
 TR SE Asia Index*   385.41        385.16       +0.07
 Singapore          3100.24       3133.74       -1.07
 Kuala Lumpur       1808.31       1814.10       -0.32
 Bangkok            1308.34       1290.49       +1.38
 Jakarta            4496.04       4477.49       +0.41
 Manila             6170.05       6139.86       +0.49
 Ho Chi Minh         553.55        551.92       +0.30
 
 Change on year
 Market             Current       End 2013    Pct Move
 TR SE Asia Index*   385.41        388.37       -0.76
 Singapore          3100.24       3167.43       -2.12
 Kuala Lumpur       1808.31       1866.96       -3.14
 Bangkok            1308.34       1298.71       +0.74
 Jakarta            4496.04       4274.18       +5.19
 Manila             6170.05       5889.83       +4.76
 Ho Chi Minh         553.55        504.63       +9.69
 
* The Thomson Reuters South East Asia Index               is a
highly representative indicator of stocks listed in Indonesia,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
    
 Stock Market Volume (shares)
 Market          Current Volume    Average Volume 30 days
 Singapore         234,692,700          170,291,380      
 Kuala Lumpur      177,386,100          106,887,910      
 
 Bangkok             4,576,686            4,843,166      
 Jakarta         3,157,704,200        2,909,648,633    
 Manila                 71,511               67,948    
 Ho Chi Minh            73,716               88,539= Reuters